In a destination floor elevator system a passenger gives to the elevator system one call, a so-called destination floor call, and not as in conventional elevator systems two calls such that the first call is given in the elevator lobby by designating the desired direction of travel with up/down-pushbuttons and the second call in the elevator car by designating with the car pushbuttons the destination floor, i.e. the target floor, of the passenger.
The destination floor can be given e.g. from a destination operating panel permanently installed in an elevator lobby. When a passenger keys his/her destination floor into the destination operating panel, the destination floor data, and also information about from which floor the call was given, is conveyed to the control system of the elevator system, to the so-called group control. On the basis of the given criteria the group control allocates an elevator from the elevator system for the use of the passenger and notifies the passenger of the allocated elevator, and possibly the location of it, e.g. on the display that is in the destination operating panel.
With regard to elevator systems, also known in the art is a call-giving method wherein a passenger is identified e.g. from an RFID identifier and a destination floor is determined for him/her on the basis of the identification. In this call-giving method a passenger e.g. takes an identifier in his/her possession manually to a reader device, which reads the information contained in the identifier, for example an individual ID number, and sends it to the group control of the elevator system. On the basis of the ID the group control determines the destination floor of the passenger, the so-called home floor, and allocates an elevator for the use of the passenger for traveling to the home floor in question. Also in this case the allocated elevator must be notified to the passenger if there are a number of elevators in the elevator system. Also known in the art are solutions in which the identifier is a so-called remote identifier, the identification data contained in which can be read when the identifier is e.g. in the pocket of the passenger.
To a constantly increasing extent elevator systems are connected to be a part of the access control of buildings. One prior-art solution is presented in publication EP 1924519, wherein a passenger has an identifier that is read e.g. outside the building. On the basis of the ID data contained in the identifier, it is checked, by identifying the ID, whether the person attempting to enter the building has a right of access to the building. If the access right is valid, the system opens an automatic door that is in connection with a reader device and orders an elevator to the entrance lobby floor.
Prior-art solutions have numerous problems. Identifiers to be read from a near-field distance require that a passenger takes his/her identifier in hand and brings it manually to a reader device that is in connection with a call-giving device. In peak-hour situations the call-giving device is easily congested because each passenger must use his/her identifier in the reader device. One problem with remotely-readable identifiers is that an indicator board showing all the calls and the elevators allocated to the calls must be arranged in connection with the elevator system. The information of the indicator board in this case becomes muddled, and individual passengers have difficulty finding from it the information applying to him/her. Since the indicator board is visible to everyone, personal messages intended to be visible only to a certain passenger cannot be shown on it either. Remotely-readable identifiers in connection with access control are also problematic because it is not possible to reliably know who of the identified passengers is going at any given time through an automatic door or access gate, enabling so-called “tailgating”, in which a person without an access right follows a person who has an access right to a certain part of the building.